Trust
by robspace54
Summary: Everything was going so well, until it wasn't. Crichton thinks back to how it all started.
1. Chapter 1

Trust

By robspace54

**Rated: T for Teen. Suitable for all ages of hoomans above the minimum age to watch sci-fi.**

**Time: Just after Episode 1 - "Premiere / Through the Eye of the Needle"**

**FARSCAPE is owned by the Jim Henson Company. This story is for purely personal and entertainment purposes. No encroachment on any property rights are intended or implied.**

000

Dad, you asked me about rattlers just before I launched on the shuttle. Oh yeah Dad, I feel those rattlers now and it started like this.

My theory worked! It worked Dad! Wow did it work. Holy cow! And now I am far beyond the stars Dad, farther than Captain Kirk ever thought to fly. It must have been a wormhole. Einstein and Hawking didn't rule those out and just my luck, well I got sucked in by one. A helluva of a way to prove their science was right. Boy were they right.

So I came out of it in some asteroid field, and there was a battle going on - little ships shooting at this huge thing. Dad it was I don't know how long; maybe a thousand meters. Hell I don't know. But it's big… really big. I had a close call with another craft which veered off and it must have crashed against an asteroid, I guess. Poor guy, or whatever, but more on that later.

I tried to veer away from the free fire zone around this big ship, but there was some sort of field that pulled me closer and in - inside it. There was a hanger bay in the interior and I got the module down on her landing gear, which made no sense, for there was gravity inside - lights and air too. Which is fortunate for me as that's when the fire started. I think it was the main power bus which blew. I had to get out and fast! The air inside the ship thing was breathable; more than breathable. The air was damp, and it almost made me think of fresh cut grass right after it rains, oh, and with a good dose of dog doo, lemons and light machine oil. Weird.

With the fire out I looked around and figured that whoever was flying the beast must be upfront; if there was a bridge, that's where I'd put it. After wandering around I just kept going what I hoped was forward. There were these odd pressure doors that cut across the tunnels that opened as I approached. Did I mention that the tunnels are painted gold and have almost organic looking reinforcing ribs top and sides? Damndest way to build a ship.

I found the bridge, Dad. There was port up forward and the battle was still going on. We seemed to be getting the crap kicked out of us and I could tell I was on the losing side of this contest.

There was a big guy, in a red suit, screaming at the top of his lungs. He had tentacles, Dad, on his head. And there was this tall blue woman, I think she's a woman, no hair though, but statuesque.

They were speaking gibberish until some yellow machine rolled up and stuck me in the ankle, injected me really. Then I could understand them. They told later it was translator microbes. Weird.

The red guy stung me with his tongue – must have been ten feet long and I went down like a shot.

The blue gal was Zhaan, and the tentacle guy was D'Argo, a general I was told. Oh yeah and there was Sparky. Little guy, about two feet tall. He's green and gray and rides a floating chair. Says he's Rygel the XVI, says it like I should bend down and kowtow to the little shrimp.

And they're all prisoners – escaped criminals – and it seems that I'm on the run too.

Rygel, told me, "We can no more trust you than we can trust that!" Then he pointed to a black spacesuit in the cell with me. After I got stung I woke in a holding cell. Same gold stuff on the walls and the bars across the front would stop a tank.

And I thought I'd make nice – First Contact, right – especially since it was a woman in that suit. She kicked my ass as I held out a hand in friendship.

She said she was, "Officer Aeryn Sun, Special Peacekeeper Commando, Icarion Company." Then she demanded I identify myself. Now here's the funny thing. I'm a human, and this Aeryn is Sebacean, but you know she looks like me; I mean she looks like a normal everyday red-blooded woman, at least from what I can tell with her clothes on. If you dropped her down on the UNC campus she'd fit right in, except for the battle suit she was wearing.

Sometime during the time she pounded my head against the floor, she got the idea that I wasn't who she thought I was. I wasn't hurt too bad and the bruises should heal in a few weeks, I hope.

I managed to convince Rygel I wasn't a Peacekeeper, one of Aeryn's people, and I was a scientist and lost. That's when I got the low down. Best of all sport fans! The ship I'm on is a prison ship, a _living_ ship – a biomechanoid, whatever that is!

Rygel, the blue gal, and the guy with the tentacles, they're all escaped prisoners, and the ship is a prison ship. They managed to get free, dump their guards (I didn't ask how), and get away. That field that sucked me inside was some sort of docking web, and we only got away from the Peacekeeper ships because the ship used _StarBurst_. They tried to explain the process and it sounds like it splits the fabric of space apart and we slip through. Not like wormhole travel at all. Both experiences made my head spin but _StarBurst_ made me feel like my eyes were exploding.

So this Aeryn Sun, the one in the black suit, she's tough, not at all interested in dealing with our hosts, and after she and I escaped from the cell they had us locked in we got out. Out of that cell, and onto Aeryn's ship, which makes my module look like a tug boat, and flew away down to a planet we were nearby.

They called it a Commerce Planet; sort of a giant mall that covered the whole thing and it puts the Mall of America to shame. So I got to touch another world Dad. I know you going to the Moon was a big deal, don't get me wrong – but Dad, I got to stand on another planet. And you know the funny thing? It _smelled_ alien but maybe that was all the critters that lived and worked there. They made the Star War's cantina scene look lame - Lucas and Spielberg would flip if they saw what and who I saw down there; right out of the Twilight Zone but with H. P. Lovecraft thrown in.

Now Aeryn had signaled her mother ship to pick us up and that sounded like a good idea. The thought or running around the galaxy with a bunch of criminals didn't sound very appealing to me. I figured I could play the John Crichton, Scientist card, and maybe – somehow – find my way home. Lady Luck had other ideas.

Officer Sun's commander, name of Bialar Crais, shows up on the Commerce Planet and arrests me, says I killed his brother. Now I did have a fender bender when the wormhole dumped me here, wherever here is. I found out the boss man's little brother was in that other ship, the one I clipped and now, now Dad, I'm a wanted man. Crais practically spit when he saw me and if looks could kill - well, I think he'd rather make it slow and painful.

I won't boast but I was desperate Dad, we got off that rock, escaped in Moya, that's the living ship, she has a _name_, and now we're somewhere in what they call the Uncharted Territories. All I can say is I got to shoot my first raygun today and it was quite the experience.

Now, Aeryn _too_ is hunted by the Crais guy, as she was 'irreversibly contaminated.' I guess her people are either racial purists or some mean _ess oh bees_ to throw her under the bus like that. We captured her, not like she joined us willingly, but now she's wanted like the rest of us.

Aeryn told me that this Crais _will_ follow us, no matter where we go, no matter how far we run. But from what I have seen I don't think I have much choice; the running I mean.

000

I found Aeryn down one of the tunnels, they call them tiers, just sitting on the deck, with her elbows on her knees, back to the wall, and she glared at me as I walked up to her.

"What do you want?" She had the look of a whipped dog or a puppy that's had a lot of fun doing what her master wanted and now she's been given up for adoption.

I sat down and leaned against the opposite wall. "To talk."

"Go away."

"Okay. I can do that. I'll just strap myself into my Tom Corbett rocket ship and zoom - fly away home."

"That what you call it?"

"No it's my module, my Farscape module."

"Is it armed?"

"What?"

"Armaments? Pulse cannon, long range blasters, ECM jammers?"

"No… nothing like that. I got a Swiss Army knife in the tool kit and a couple of screwdrivers though."

She sneered. "It must be a very small army."

"It's a brand. It's who…" I stopped when I could see she thought I was crazy. "Made it."

Aeryn shook her head sadly. "Hooman not Sebacean. You are sure?"

"Yep. Human. Hu - man."

"Right." She rubbed her hands together and I could see the muscles in her forearms cord up.

"You're... upset."

"What?" she bristled.

"Nothing."

In a flash she launched herself at me and grabbed me by the throat. "This is ALL YOUR FAULT!" she screamed and bared her teeth. "I _should_ kill you. I could, right now!"

I threw up my hands. "Hey lady, uncle!"

"What?" she jammed my head back against the wall.

"Damn it, stop that! I ma sick and tired of being everybody's punching bag!" I yelled and pushed her back, my hands on her very human feeling shoulders. "Is that the way you make friends and influence people? Beating them up?"

"Peacekeepers don't have friends!"

"Really? Well you must be a real blast when ya'll throw a block party!"

Aeryn's eyes opened wide. "What are you talking about? What you're saying is gibberish."

"If you quit choking me I'll try to explain."

She let me go and in pretty short order I found she had never lived in a neighborhood and didn't know what one was. "Where do you live? Where did you grow up?"

"On the Command Carrier for the last three cycles. Other ships before that."

"Cycles?"

"A standard cycle is the time it takes the planet Rebulon to make one orbit of its sun."

"Rebulon?"

"Yes, in the Itax System. Every child knows that."

I sighed. "Aeryn, I'm not from around here."

"Yes," she hissed. "So you say." She grabbed my left hand and examined it closely, bending the fingers back and forth tracing the tendons and joints to my wrist. "You lie. You're a Sebacean."

"No. I told you I'm a human. I'm from the planet _Earth_."

"Urp?"

"_Earth_."

She laughed and rocked back on her heels, her black vest flapping open and I could see her breasts under her black shirt which were very, uhm, well, human-like, even to the point the shape of her nipples showed through the fabric. "Urrrp."

"Earrrthh," I emphasized the sound trying to keep my mind off her very human-like female attributes. I'd also noticed them when she pounded my cranium against the desk in the cell yesterday, long dark hair and pretty face, plus her slim hands, her thighs, tight muscular legs… I dropped my hands to cover my crotch which was wise, as… well, why do you think, Dad?

"It must be a renegade colony of Peacekeepers or a lost outpost. How long ago was it colonized?" she said. "Must be."

"No, no. I, we, humans that is, we come from there - and _only_ there."

"Only one planet? Ridiculous!" She jumped up and glared down at me. "You will be ripe for conquest! You must be backward."

I sighed. "Aeryn…"

"Officer Sun to you!"

"Officer Sun, do you do that? Conquer planets?"

She nodded. "Yes. We have - we do."

"So it's just one big happy family, all under Peacekeeper control, that it? If that's true so why are we fleeing from Crais into the Uncharted Territories? Tell me that Sherlock!"

"No, Crichton," she answered. "There are… volumes... of the galaxy where Peacekeeper Command has no outpost, colonies, or even patrols." She started to walk away.

"So we'll be safe out here."

She ran back and kicked my ankle then stood on it. Then she grabbed my hair and tugged on it.

"Oww!"

"Are you safe now?" she asked, with an almost gleeful snarl.

I gulped. "This isn't going to be easy, is it?"

She let me go then squatted down staring at me. "Not a Sebacean."

I rubbed my ankle. "No."

She stared into my eyes. "Perhaps you tell the truth."

"Damn it Aeryn, quit picking on me!" I pushed her backwards and she landed on her ass, giving me a chance to stand over her. "How do you like it?"

That was a huge mistake as she flattened me with a leg scissors move then planted a foot in my crotch and grabbing my ankle pulled.

"Jesus!" Stop it! Uncle!" I slapped the deck with an open palm.

She climbed to her feet. "Get up."

I did, stepping back to take a jab at her.

She parried with an elbow block then jammed her hand against my throat. "I could kill you right this microt."

"This what Crais is going to do to me?"

She shook her head. "I fear that Commander Crais will have some exquisite torture planned for you."

"And for you? What about you Officer Sun?"

Her strong fingers dropped from my throat. "Summary execution or worse I would be given the honor of being used for target practice of my unit. Then they would be killed as an object lesson for the rest of the Squadron." Her lips trembled as she said it.

"And they call you Peacekeepers. Doesn't sound very peaceful to me."

"It is our way," she said in a very small voice.

"Irreversibly contaminated he called you."

She shrugged. "_He_ said it and I _am_ now. The orders for my death have already been signified. All they await is for it to happen. There will be a special award to the trooper that captures me, without killing me." She rubbed her arms with her hands. "I'll suicide first."

"No!" I yelled and she jumped. "Remember what I told you on the planet? You're not just a soldier, Aeryn - not just Officer Sun - commando. You are a living breathing, uhm, Sebacean, Aeryn, and you can be more."

"More?"

"More than this," and I reached out to tap her battle vest. "More than a soldier."

"I'm a Prowler Pilot," she said holding her head a little higher. "Best in my squadron."

"Okay that too. Be more. Learn to be something else," I sighed. "I thought I was a scientist, astronaut. Now I have to learn to be a…" I gulped, "_fugitive_."

She nodded. "Just choose your allies wisely, Crichton."

I smiled at her. "Sure. I guess I need to figure out _who_ I can trust."

She propped her hands on hips, spread her long legs and glared at me. "Why are you smiling?"

I shook my head. Bottom of the ninth, down by ten runs, with two men out, two strikes on me and the biggest, roughest, toughest pitcher they got is on the mound and he's winding up to drill me. "We humans - we don't give up easily."

"You're insane," she laughed, then turned and walked away and I got to admire that Sebacean backside of hers, until she turned a corner.

One of the little yellow bug-like DRDs trundled up to me, the one with the broken eyestalk. "Hey little fella," I told it, "sorry I stepped on you."

The machine, or bug, beeped at me.

"You're no R2-D2 I guess. Come on," I gestured and started to walk away, following Aeryn's path. "I think I can fix you."

A little tape from my repair kit and the glowing sensor or camera on the stalk glowed once more. "There little fella. Friends?"

The machine made a slow circle over the table top then faced me. It beeped once and the damaged eyestalk sensor blinked twice.

"I'll take that for a yes," I told it.

So Dad, I'm on an amazing journey, not one of my choosing or control. Damn and double damn.

Rattlers you asked? Oh yeah. Big mothers and I'm _scared_ Dad.

So, I'll keep a log on my tape recorder. This is John Crichton - somewhere in the Universe. Signing off until next time. I think I've seen enough wonders for one day.


	2. Chapter 2

**FARSCAPE is owned by the Jim Henson Company. This story is for purely personal entertainment purposes. No encroachment on any property rights are intended or implied.**

"Crichton!" a bellicose voice yelled and I turned to see General Ka D'Argo glaring at me. "What are you doing?"

"To be honest I was trying to find the, uhm, the sanitary facilities."

He braked to a halt in front of me. "Why are you looking for water treatment equipment?"

"No, no. The uhm… the… well what do you do when you have personal waste products to dispose of?"

"They are recycled."

"No, no. I can see this is not working well," I sighed. "I'm dancing the gotta do it samba and nowhere to go."

The alien glared at me. "Samba?"

"It's a dance."

"You need to dance? You hoomans are strange."

"Honest to God. Look I have to take a wiz, a leak, a pee, uhm, release waste products from my body. Got it?"

The alien laughed and his massive voice echoed down the long tube-like tier. "You have to drop dren!"

"Dren?"

"It's what comes out your eema!" He bent double laughing at me.

"Listen D'Argo, it's no laughing matter."

"Come human, I'll show you." He grabbed my arm and tugged me a hundred meters down the tier, to the cell Aeryn and I had been locked in. "Go in," he shoved me.

"Ok. Hide and seek time is over, okay? Now where's the _damn_ bathroom?"

D'Argo smiled and touched a stud on the wall, making a panel swing aside revealing a hole in the floor and a rather Earth like looking sink on the wall. "What you call a bathroom. We call it a _refresher_."

I pushed past him, entered the small chamber and closed the door. "Whew…"

I came out to see him grinning. "Better?" he sneered.

"Oh yeah. Thought I was gonna bust."

"You didn't need the refresher before."

"No. Guess I was scared."

"Too scared to give a wheez?"

"_Wiz_, D'Argo. From the sound."

"Ha!" He clapped me on the shoulder. "I like you. You make me laugh."

I rubbed the spot where he'd hit me. "Remind not to make you laugh too often, at least within arm's reach."

He nodded. "We Luxans are strong - fierce - and warriors. I am. Not _all_ are. We have farmers, artisans, dancers, poets, and yes _even_ scientists. But _I_ am a warrior."

I looked at his lined face where a scar crossed his beaky nose. "I can see that."

"Listen to me Crichton," he said softly, "I've seen you hanging around that Peacekeeper." He almost spat the last word.

"Uhm…"

"She'd sell us all to Peacekeeper Command if she thought it would save her skin." He laughed. "Not that that will happen. She's just as dead as the rest of us."

"Well I'm still breathing so I guess _I'm not dead yet_!" I chuckled.

D'Argo glared at me.

"Okay. Take a note; _no_ Monty Python out here. I guess the TV reception is bad," I muttered.

"Tee-Vee?"

"Television - sort of like that vision screen the ship's Pilot uses. Frequency modulation transmission of a scanned image…"

He cut me off. "Yes, Crichton."

"Speaking of out here, we're in the Uncharted Territories?"

"And will be for a long time," his voice rumbled. "If we are lucky."

"So we _can_ hide. Space is really big, really, really big." I smiled at the thought of Carl Sagan. "Really, really."

"Captain Crais will not stop seeking _you_ or _us_." He paused. "Maybe he wants you a lot more than he wants us?" He looked me up and down. "I wonder how many krindars we can get for you."

"Oh great, now you're gonna sell me to the highest bidder? Swell!" I started to back away from him.

He sniffed in my direction. "You don't smell bad and there may be a market for you - on the renegade Peacekeeper trade perhaps. I've heard your kind make good breeding stock."

"Whoa! Whoa, D'Argo! Breeding stock?"

"Or maybe as an appetizer. I know there are some who like strange meat. Or at least it said that your kind is tasty after roasting over a slow fire - basted with beejum sauce of course."

I shook my head and backed further from him. "Maybe I'll just stay right here in my cell."

D'Argo watched me slyly and then cackled. "I made you scared! Scared of me!"

"Uhm, yeah, a little."

He laughed once more. "Come Crichton. Let's see if there is anything to drink on board Moya." His gloved hand slapped me on the back. "There may be some liquid rations. Peacekeepers like raslak. We may find some."

"You're very chummy for a guy who threatened me earlier."

The alien stopped and swung me around so we faced each other. "_Yesss_. I already told you that if you threaten my freedom I _will_ kill you." His sharp incisors gleamed in the golden light from the glow-lamps.

I took three steps forward and got in his face. "I remember. No need to repeat it."

"Good."

"They had you locked up for eight years?"

He touched the metal rings that protruded from what I assumed were the Luxan version of collar bones. "They chained me. They used these."

"Phew. Hard time."

"Hard… time. A good way to put it."

One of the little yellow DRDs peeked around a corner and beeped at us. "Is that thing following us?"

D'Argo's eyes gleamed. "Not us. You."

"Me?" I pointed to my chest with my thumb. "What possible threat am I? I can't sting anybody like you can."

"That's right."

"Or pilot Moya or that Prowler like Aeryn can. She put us in a wingover, must have pulled six gees, and she didn't even grunt while I was whimpering in the back like a little girl. Gal's got skills at the control stick."

He glared at me. "We don't quite trust her either, but we know _she_ is a Peacekeeper and we know what to expect from her. But you… are…" he sniffed again, "different."

"So I'm the unknown quantity - the X factor."

D'Argo nodded. "One way to put it."

I crossed my arms. "Look General Ka D'Argo."

"Just D'Argo."

"Fine. Look at me. Nearly useless, weak, skinny, no fangs or forked tongue, stingers, hidden anti-gravs, _or_ superpowers! I don't understand your customs, the food, where the freakin' refresher is for God's sake, and _you_ think I'm a threat."

"Crais will pursue you to the ends of the Universe and he will have his revenge."

"Well that's comforting. What if I hadn't shown up? What if I wasn't along on your little star trek?"

"Crais would still send kill units after us, but not a full carrier, commanded by the task force commander. You have made a very powerful enemy, weak as you claim to be."

"Little old Earthman, that's me and I don't know a thing about anything."

D'Argo rumbled, "Well that maneuver you had Moya pull at the Commerce planet got us out of range of the carrier! What was that?"

"Oh, just a little theory that my buddy DK and I cooked up." I sighed. "I bet DK and Dad are poring over the telemetry, and they have no idea I turned into Robinson Crusoe on Moya." I exhaled deeply again. "But it worked. It worked, and but for that wormhole showing up I'd never have met you Big D."

"Big D?"

"Short for D'Argo. But my theory worked."

He grinned. "It worked. I bet Crais was throwing a dren fit when we went off his scanners."

I leaned against the wall, or maybe it was a bulkhead, as I peered at the arched structure. "This is a rib. Moya's rib."

"Moya, like all Leviathans, has internal bracing to give her form."

"Like a whale."

"Whale? I'm sorry, I don't under…?"

"Large sea creature; lives in salt water, not as large as Moya, but big; biggest creatures on Earth for the last 30 million years. They're mammals. They bear live young and nurse them after birth."

"Ah," he said, "I understand the reference. I too am a mammal, but a male of course."

I looked at his muscular body, muscles bulging legs, arms, and chest. "Good to know."

"It's not always easy to tell, Crichton. Best not to make any… ahem… assumptions about such things until you know."

"What?"

"You and those Peacekeeper dren are much the same, I think." His nose dipped towards me sniffing the air. "You smell the same. Could likely mate with them."

I ducked my head and got a quick whiff of overworked deodorant and sweaty clothing from my armpit. "Gonna have to wash."

"The refresher has a shower and there is cleansing gel."

"I guess I can't get a bar of Dial around here."

D'Argo laughed. "Whatever Dial is; unlikely."

"And those food cubes aren't much to write home about."

"That is what we have, so that is what we will eat."

I nodded. "Fine. Fine. Now what is raslak?"

D'Argo laughed. "Come, weak and useless Urpman. I know where there might be a bottle. Head Guard quarters are on Tier 2."

"Speaking of which, y'all are prisoners and there had to be guards."

"There were."

"What… what, uhm… did you?"

"Crichton," he grinned at me. "Moya is surrounded by a very hard vacuum. It was not hard for Rigel to cross circuit the controls and open a few critical chambers to space."

"Oh," I gulped.

"They didn't suffer," he said, "_unfortunately_."

"Yeah," I glanced at the polished metal rings sticking out of his chest. "I can see how you'd feel that way."


End file.
